Walking doll



L- DOPPELT ET AL WALKING DOLL May 27, 1969 Sheet of 2 Filed June 9, 1966 INVENTORS LAWRENCE DOPPELT BAYUGUSTIN RODRIGUEZ @Scly %S ,L %II1MI)7? ATTORNEYS May 27, 1969 DOPPELT ETAL 3,445,956

WALKING DOLL l d June 9, 1966 Sheet 2 of2 United States Patent 3,445,956 WALKING DOLL Lawrence Doppelt, Great Neck, and Augustin Rodriguez, Brooklyn, N.Y., assiguors to Goldberger Doll Mfg. Co., Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed June 9, 1966, Ser. No. 556,365 Int. Cl. A63h 11/14 US. Cl. 46-149 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to dolls. Specifically, it pertains to a doll with a novel walking mechanism of the type wherein each leg is \actuable independently of the other by a means lightly biasing the leg to a vertical pendent position so that when the leg is drawn back and released it will kick forward gently past said vertical position.

'It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a walking doll which includes an extremely simple and easy to operate walking mechanism.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a doll of the character described which does not require more than a small childs strength to operate.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a doll of the character described which can be easily and inexpensively mass produced from few and easily available parts.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a doll of the character described which can be caused to sit as well as walk.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a doll of the character described which is rugged and long lasting.

Other objects of the present invention in part will be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

This invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the device hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claim-s.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of the present invention,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a doll embodying the present invention, the walking mechanism being shown in dotted lines;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1, the legs being shown in striding position;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the legs and the walking mechanism, the same being shown removed from the doll;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but with one leg in sitting position;

FIG. 7 is a view of a detail of the walking mechanism construction, the same being taken substantially along the line 7--7 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 8 is a view of another detail of the walking mechanism construction, the same being taken substantially along the line 8--8 of FIG. 2.

In carrying out the instant invention, a doll is provided having a conventional hollow body to which hollow light legs are attached by articulated hip joints. Desirably the body and legs are blow-molded from a plastic having a low friction, preferably slippery, surface so that the legs move quite easily in hip joints with respect to the body. Each leg includes a hip end which is rotatably received in the torso at an associated leg opening whereby to form a hip joint. Pursuant to the present invention, an elongated pin is secured at one end thereof to each hip end, said pin being rotatably secured to the hip end by a first hook. Manually overridable restraining means is provided integral with each hip end to prevent rotation of the pin with respect to the said end and to cause it to move with the leg as the latter rotates with respect to the torso. Said means includes a radial slot in the hip in which the pin is loosely seated. The slot is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the leg. Each pin includes a second hook located at the end thereof remote from the end secured to the hip end of its associated leg, said remote end being located above the hip end of the leg when the leg is pendent. Tension means connects each second hook to an anchor located above the second hook in the torso. Said means is under tension in the erect (pendent) position of the associated leg and pulls the second hook up wardly causing each pin and thus its radial slot and associated leg to be vertically oriented. Thus, each leg is biased to a vertical, i.e., standing position. The tension means will cause the legs to swing to and beyond a vertical position after being rotated a distance out of such position and released. On rotation of a leg to a sitting position, however, the manually overridable restraining means is overcome, i.e., the pins move out of their associated slots and allow the legs to rotate independently of the pins to sitting position. This permits the sitting position to be obtained without increasing the tension on the tension means.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 denotes a doll constructed in accordance with the present invention. Said doll includes a torso 12, a head 14, a pair of arms 16 and a pair of legs 18. The torso, arms and legs are fabricated, as by blow molding, from a low friction slippery surfaced plastic such as polyethylene. Each leg includes a circular head 20 constituting the hip end thereof, said head being separated from the rest of the leg by an annular groove 22 (see FIG. 3). The torso is provided with leg openings 24 (see FIG. 4) of a diameter slightly larger than that of the groove but less than that of the head 20 and the section 26 of the leg located immediately adjacent the groove on the other side thereof from the head. The head of each leg is forced into an associated opening 24 until the groove is received in the material of the torso defining the opening. The legs are freely rotatable in their associated leg openings. The openings 24 lie in planes which slant downwardly towards one another, as is clearly shown in FIG. 4. As a result, the head 20, grooves 22 and adjacent section 26 are designed to slant downwardly and inwardly also to match the contour of the openings 24. The angle of slant is about 30. Because of the foregoing, the legs when rotated in their openings diverge from one another, and on rotation of the legs about forwardly, they are spread out in an attitude realistically simulating a sitting position. When the legs are vertical, however, they are substantially parallel to one another, thereby realistically simulating a standing position.

Pursuant to the instant invention, an inset eccentric boss 28 is provided on the inside face of the head 20 of each leg. Said boss has a vertical plane face 29 and is located at the upper of the head. The boss is provided with a vertical slot 30 in the face 29 extending radially upwardly from an opening 32 formed in the head at the center thereof on the axis of rotation of the leg with respect to the torso. An elongated pin 34 including a V-shaped hook 36 at one and a U-shaped hook 38 at the other end is provided for each leg assembly. Said pin is fabricated from stiff steel wire of approximately inch diameter. In a doll about inches high, the pin is preferably on the order of 1 /2 to 2 inches long. Both hooks of each pin lie in the same plane, but they face in opposite directions. The V-shaped hook 36 is received in the opening 32 of the head of the leg. After being inserted into the opening, the hook is rotatable in the opening. The retroverted bend of the hook 36 is positioned inwardly of the opening 32 so that once in place it cannot be accidentally dislodged. The shank 40 of the pin is adapted to fit in the slot 30 of the boss with the U-shaped hook 38 located above the head of the leg and with its short reach extending toward the center of the torso. (See FIGS. 3, 4 and 7). The shank is transversely shiftable out of the slot. The V-shaped hook in the head of the leg permits this.

The arms 16 are articulated in arm openings in the torso in substantially the same manner as the legs, i.e., a head and annular groove are provided at the shoulder end of each arm for inter-action with the material defining the arm openings. The head of each arm includes an opening 42, and an anchor bar 44 extends between the heads of the arms, its ends being received in the openings 42 (see FIG. 4). The bar extends through the upper ends of a pair of rubber bands 46. The other end of each band is received in a different one of the U- shaped hooks 38 of the pins 34. The bands are of such length that they are under tension in the vertical position of the pin shanks as shown in FIG. 1, this corresponding to the vertical, i.e., standing (pendent) position of the legs (see FIG. 3 also). The bands are under suflicient tension to lightly bias the legs to vertical position without making it difiicult to move the legs forwardly or rearwardly with respect to the torso. The shanks of the pins are maintained in the slots by the tension of the rubber bands. Inasmuch as the line of pull of the rubber bands is substantially parallel to the length of the pins, the tension of the bands forces the pins against the bases of the radial slots.

The doll head 14 is fabricated from a conventional head material such as latex or polyvinyl and is rotatably secured at the neck opening of the torso in a conventional manner.

The doll operates as follows: The doll is tilted to one side so that one foot 48 engages the surface on which the doll is to walk. Then the doll torso is moved forwardly with the touching leg swinging rearwardly and the touching foot remaining behind. As the leg pivots, the hook 38 is caused to move further away from the anchor bar than it was in the erect position of said leg. This in turn stretches the rubber band associated with that hook. The doll is next tilted to the other side causing the foot of the other leg to touch the walking surface. The rubber band on the rearwardly pivoted leg pulls the pin of that leg upwardly and causes that leg to swing forwardly somewhat past the erect position. Simultaneously, the torso is moved forward, and the other leg, whose foot is now touching the walking surface pivots rearwardly. As the forwardly swinging first-mentioned leg reaches its foremost position, the doll is tilted back to the first side, touching the foot of that leg to the ground while said other leg moves forwardly. Continuous repetition of such action for both legs simulates walking. With a little practice, a child can learn to easily walk the doll backward and forward in a smooth and realistic fashion. The tilting and forward motion are coordinated as one motion to make walking quite realistic. On the rearward movement of each leg, the associated pin will move forwardly and the dolls abdomen is sufficiently protruberant so as not to be contacted by the pin on such movement.

The doll can be made to sit by rotating both legs forwardly As already mentioned, the legs diverge from one another as this occurs. The pin shanks 40 shift transversely out of their associated slots 30 in the bosses 28 when substantial rotation of the legs has occurred, cocking as they do so, and this permits the rotation of the legs to the sitting position thereof to take place without increasing the tension on the rubber bands because once the pin shanks come out of their associated slots, the pins rotate with respect to their associated heads of the legs and return to a position in which the pins are vertical, i.e., substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis ofthe torso. The legs will remain in sitting position as long as the doll is not lifted since in the sitting position of the doll, there is no force biasing the legs to a vertical position. The shanks do not come out of their associated slots when the amount of leg rotation necessary merely for walking occurs. The reason the pin shanks come out of their associated radial slots on rotation of the legs a substantial amount but not when the rotation is less is that as a leg swings forwardly and its head rotates rearwardly, the associated slot gradually faces forwardly until its forward facing aspect is sufiiciently great to allow escape of the pin. As a result, the shanks will disengage from the slots in the course of the considerable amount of rotation necessary for achieving the sitting position. For positive disengagement of the shanks from the slots, we also arranged to have the hooks 38 or the sections of the rubber bands engaging the hooks strike the back of the torso at the interior thereof when the legs in their forward movement toward the sitting position move further forwardly than they would when walking. The sudden ensuing pressure on the shanks forces them out of the slots.

When a seated doll is lifted up, the legs swing towards erect, i.e., standing position because of the force of gravity which is sufficient to overcome the slight friction of the legs in their openings. When the legs have almost reached their erect position, the shanks snap back into their associated slots, and the doll is ready to walk again.

It thus will be seen that there is provided a device which achieves the several objects of the present invention and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described the present invention, there is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent:

1. In combination with a doll having an elongated hollow torso including an upper section and a lower section, means defining a pair of spaced leg openings in the lower section of said torso and a pair of spaced legs each of which is rotatable about an axis inclined transversely to the longitudinal axis of the torso in a leg opening with a hip end of the leg projecting into the torso, said hip end being closed, that improvement comprising, means defining an approximately central opening in the closed hip end of each leg on approximately the axis of rotation of the leg, an elongated pin associated with each leg, each pin including a shank having an upper end and a lower end, the lower end of each pin being rotatably received in the opening in the closed hip end of the associated leg, the shank of the pin extending radially from its associated central opening, means coupling each pin to its associated leg for rotation therewith, said last named means com prising a vertical plane face formed in the closed hip end of the leg at an angle to the axis of rotation of the leg, means defining a slot in said vertical plane face in the associated closed hip end of each leg, said slot extending radially away from said central opening, the shank of each pin being at least partially received in at least a substantial portion of its associated slot whereby the shank of the pin cannot rotate with respect to its associated leg while disposed in the slot, anchor means disposed in the torso above the upper ends of the pins, said anchor means lying in the same plane as that in which the slots lie when the longitudinal axes of the legs are substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the torso, and resilient means connecting the upper end of each pin to the anchor means, said resilient means being under tension when the pins are in their associated slots and the longitudinal axes of the legs are substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the torso, whereby the pins and thus the legs are biased to a position wherein the longitudinal axes of the legs are substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the torso but the legs are movable rearwardly and forwardly with respect to the torso against the bias of the resilient means, each pin being shiftable out of its associated slot on rotation of its associated leg beyond the forwardly striding position of the leg to a position in which the longitudinal axis of the leg is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the torso and shiftable back into the slot on the return of the leg towards a position in which the longitudinal axis of the leg is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the torso.

2. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the slots are substantially parallel to the longitudinal axes of their associated legs.

3. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the resilient means constitutes a rubber band stretched between the anchor means and the upper end of each pin.

4. A combination as set forth in claim 3 wherein the upper end of each pin constitutes a hook in which an end of a rubber band is received and the lower end of each pin constitutes a hook received in the opening in the hip end of the associated leg.

5. A combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein the lower end of each slot communicates with the opening in its associated hip end.

6. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the anchor means constitutes a bar extending across the torso in the upper section thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1957 Gardel 46-173 3/1964 Ostrander 46-l49 

